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Norris-Thing
The Norris-Thing was a three-formed Thing which assumed the form of Norris, an American geologist stationed at U.S. Outpost 31. The creature appeared in the 1982 film The Thing. History After Norris suffers an apparent heart attack, the men rush him to the medical ward, where Copper attempts to re-start Norris' heart by defibrillation. The electrical shock, however, causes the Norris-Thing to transform and defend itself. This revelation was hardly in the Thing's interest. Having copied Norris' body exactly, including the defective heart, it apparently suffered a genuine heart attack and possibly had its consciousness degraded to the point where it reacted instinctively rather than intelligently against the electrical shock. If it retained human-level intelligence, it would have known that the shock was not actually an attack with hostile intentions. (By an alternative interpretation, Norris was taken over gradually after a limited, perhaps one-cell infection, and did feel strange; this would be why he earlier refused leadership and said he did not feel up to it. If so, the Thing may not have reached the point where it actually took over his mind and gained access to his human knowledge). Changing its ribcage into an enormous vertical maw, lined with razor-sharp teeth, the Thing bites off Copper's hands as he attempts another shock, causing him to quickly die of blood loss. It then begins to mutate even further, as a serpentine/spider-like creature explodes from the chest cavity. Its head is approximately human, but it is like a grotesque parody of Norris' features, with sharp, fang-like teeth. It clings to the ceiling as the men quickly exit the room and roars at MacReady, who advances toward it and sets both the snake-spider creature and its torso on fire with his flamethrower. As its body burns, the Norris-Thing's (original) head tears away from its shoulders and slides onto the floor before growing six spider-like legs and a pair of bug eyes on stalks. It hides under a nearby desk as the men extinguish the fire and then attempts to scuttle off, only to be spotted by Palmer and Windows. (Palmer, himself a Thing at this point, apparently tried to divert suspicion from himself by making an incredulous exclamation at the sight of the Head Spider. It may be noted that he only speaks out once Windows has also seen it and its survival is compromised anyway.) MacReady turns and incinerates it as it attempts to escape through the infirmary room door. Noticing how every part of the Norris-Thing had an instinctive desire to survive, MacReady developed a heat-based blood test for testing the remaining men. Forms The Norris-Thing is shown to possess a minimum of three distinct forms: Vlcsnap-2011-12-30-07h27m52s226.png|Norris' torso and ribcage transform into a deep maw with sharp teeth. After killing Copper, further creatures were spawned from the biomass of Norris' body. Vlcsnap-2011-12-30-07h28m32s112.png|A long creature with spider-like appendages and dangling entrails. It hangs from the Surgery room cieling after being violently expelled from the torso cavity. |- The_Spider-Head_Thing_-_The_Thing_(1982).png|Created when the Norris-Thing's head tore itself away from its burning body in a bid for self-preservation. Has arthropod-esque legs and eyes on stalks. Gallery Vlcsnap-2011-12-30-07h28m41s198.png|The Worm-Spider Thing clings to the ceiling. Vlcsnap-2011-12-30-07h29m01s140.png|Norris-Thing's head detaches itself from the rest of the body as to prevent itself from burning. Norris-Thing_head_(1)_-_The_Thing_(1982).png| Norris-Thing_head_(2)_-_The_Thing_(1982).png| Norris-Thing_head_(3)_-_The_Thing_(1982).png| Norris-Thing_Concept.jpg|Concept art for the Spider-Head Thing. Category:Creatures Category:Creatures (1982 Film)